Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the first time in years that JJ and I have been in the same city for Valentine's Day. My beautiful sister has been a wonderful dinner companion during those years, but this year I was excited for husband and I to go to dinner to celebrate this hallmark holiday. I got on opentable and made a reservation at our favorite italian restaurant- and was very proud of myself!

Then 20 minutes later I got an email informing me that this particular restaurant was offering a $99 four-course special for Valentine's Day. This would be our only option for dinner. Ummm, I do not love Valentine's Day THAT much! So it's back to plan B of making dinner in our own kitchen.

Plan B was probably not the best choice of words on this romantic holiday. Let's change it to plan home-bound.

I'm sure you have already mailed all of your Valentine's Day cards, but if not here is a cute {and free!} printable card just for you.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

I've flown home from Mexico just in time to spend tonight ringing in the new year with my love and some great friends {and some bubbly, of course!!}. I'll pop back in tomorrow with pictures of my trip and some resolutions for 2012 that I've been pondering.

2011 has been quite a year. 2012 has big shoes to fill!!

Sister Crafts

In addition to sharing identical looks, mannerisms and sense of humor- my sister and I have shared many craft days this holiday season. The first was a weekend-long marathon of tree skirt making, movie watching, wine-slush drinking and chili eating. We even made our own fire -- without any help from any man!! It was so glorious that we have decided to make it an annual tradition.

We also made tons and tons of candy- per our usual Christmas tradition of eating more chocolate in one day than we do during the entire rest of the year.

We're practicing for TLC to contact us about staring in a reality show about sister candy makers. Watch out.

Christmas 1.0: I fight crime and my husband is an astronaut

Last weekend was my Christmas weekend with my family {since now that I'm married I'm having to learn to share...}. I have been raised with a strong allegiance to traditions so even though we celebrated one week early, everything was exactly the same as years past....right down to the snacks! 

My family is very close-knit so it has been a fun adventure incorporating JJ into our traditions. 

This last picture has me giddy just thinking about the hour spent writing my parent's holiday card. My mother decided she was tired of the traditional blah blah blah so she just made stuff up. JJ is now an Astronaut. I fight crime. My sister works for the C.I.A. I am being 100% serious that is what is being mailed to 75 of their family and friends!!!

Oh yes, and this now lives at my house!!!

This weekend it's off to Memphis for Christmas 2.0

Union Station Feels Like Christmas

Since we moved to Kansas City immediately after Christmas last year, this is our first holiday season in this city. It has been fun decorating our apartment and attending holiday parties of new friends- but the place that has felt most like Christmas has been Union Station.

Today was the holiday party with my co-workers. The past year with them has been such a joy! They gave me a beautiful cast iron dutch oven so I'll be experimenting with all kinds of stews over the next few months!!

Thanksgiving 2011

Last year I made a point of making a list of everything I was thankful for. It is a nice little reminder for times when I start to feel sorry for myself {do all girls do that?} but this year I am just thankful. I didn't make a list, I am thankful just for having the opportunity to be a wife, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, employee and student. I am thankful that I understand that not every single day is going to be a good day. I am thankful that I have trials and tribulations so that I can truly appreciate the blessings in my life. 


We spent Thanksgiving in a small farming town in western Kansas. This will probably be the last Thanksgiving we spend at my Grandparents house because of their health, so this year was extra special. 

 Please note Grandpa's turkey-hat!!

 I guarantee this will be my parent's Christmas card this year.

Get 'em while they're hot

Last year my fake BFF Emily from Jones Design Company {meaning I stalk her life via her blog and she doesn't know who I am} posted some printable gift tags on her website. I used them on all of my gifts and they looked really great. This year she has posted a few more colors - and they are still all free to download and use!

No Excuses, but I am so LUCKY

I have no excuses for why it's taken me so long to check in with the blog. My husband was traveling for business during my birthday week and I was overwhelmed by how sweet my family, friends, coworkers and classmates were to help me celebrate the big 2-5! I was taken out to lunch or dinner every single day that week. New friends brought me beautiful homemade desserts. Phone calls and texts and sweet birthday cards made me feel so very special.

And then I came home from my Thursday night graduate class at 10:30 pm and my husband was there {home early as a surprise!} with flowers and hugs. I am a lucky girl.

My birthday was flanked on both sides by University of Missouri football games. The Saturday before my birthday Mizzou was playing Kansas State University in my home-town so I got to celebrate with my parents, sister and JJ's Dad.

How amazing is my little sister's laugh?

The weekend after my birthday was Mizzou's homecoming football game in Columbia so I got to celebrate with my college friends.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I'm 25! I always thought that sounded old until I actually became 25. Last weekend I got to celebrate with my family and this weekend I'm celebrating with my friends. I'm a lucky girl!!

The JJ and Caylin Show

Our trip to Colorado was perfectly full of hiking, delicious food, sunbathing and lots of quality family time.  JJ spent most of his time with this little peanut:

I stressed about packing before we left but ended up spending most of my time switching between sweatpants and a swimsuit.

It's nice that this will be an extra short work week. Then my sister comes to town to look for an apartment. She is moving to my city! 

Weekend Bliss

Perhaps the fact that there are zilch pictures from the holiday weekend further proves how blissful the weekend truly was.

Three days, three different cities.

Saturday: St. Louis with my friends from college
Sunday: Winery tour and a bed and breakfast with husband
Monday: Soaking up the sun while husband golfed with his friends

Just what the doctor ordered!

It is Mother's Day after all

We're back from our whirlwind weekend. It was a blast but I had much to little sleep and much to much food!

I'm too tired to put up pictures from the beautiful weddings I went to this weekend but I couldn't resist this picture of my adorable mother in honor of Mother's Day.

She's a breed all her own and I'm thankful daily to be her daughter.

Happy Easter!

I survived hosting my first holiday as Mrs. Bennett, and had a wonderful time cooking for everyone in my tiny kitchen. My heart is so full and I am SO exhausted! I took a nice long nap this afternoon after everyone left {but that is really pretty standard 'round here!}


Saturday afternoon I helped host a "flash mob" with some of the kids I have the pleasure of working with immediately following Kansas City's big Easter parade. I was nervous that we would not be well received but that was not the case. We made it on the Easter morning news! Check it out HERE

Then my family had our own little Easter egg hunt at the park. It was the grown-up version with truffles inside of the plastic eggs. I ended up being the biggest loser in more ways than one: I found less eggs than JJ, my sister and my sister-in-law AND I sprained my ankle tripping over a pot hole.

Pictures my sister in law took of husband 1. trying to tackle me and 

2. trying to steal some of the very few Easter eggs I did find

Instead of cleaning up the mess in the kitchen I'm sitting down with a few episodes of Mad Men, a glass of red wine and a big bag of ice for my sore ankle. Happy Easter everyone!

I'm going to pinch you like white on rice

Via

Today is St. Patrick's Day and, although I know absolutely nothing about Mr. Patrick, I do know that if I come across someone not wearing green today I will pinch them. Not like a grandma pinching the cheeks of a chubby baby. I'm going to pinch them like white on rice.

Neither of us own anything green so I'll have to come up with an alternate solution. JJ had a green polo but he lost it so I am going to find all kinds of satisfaction in pinching him 98743543 times today.

Fat Wednesday

I totally forgot that yesterday was Fat Tuesday and since I sweated out any and all fun in my stupid hot yoga class, I'm going to celebrate today. This fits better into my schedule anyway because I have today off from work so I can truly be a glutenous bum. This is what I try to do with most holidays- rework them into my schedule so they fit better for ME. Because, it is all about me, after all!

I've decided to give up sweets for lent. This is because of two reasons:
1. I've secretly been hiding Hershey's hugs in my drawer at work and eating them all day every day and I'm concerned that I'm rotting my teeth
2. Today I ran out of Hershey's hugs so this seems like the logical thing to give up for lent

I'm pretty sure I will be able to make it until Easter without any sweets if I stay away from the grocery store, my freezer, my office, my car and any restaurant.

Easter Nut House

It's official. I'm crazy. I'm hosting all of my immediate family and all of JJ's immediate family in our little apartment for Easter. Each of us can have approximately 110 square feet of space.

Since I'm consumed by impressing everyone with my uncanny resemblance to Martha Stewart (er, I mean I need everyone's approval that I am not the worst wife in America) I am trying to come up with an Easter menu. Typically my Mom makes her bunny cake but since I'm hosting, I need to come up with my own token easter baked good. Since I am the reigning Jell-O Champion Extraordinaire, I'm obviously going to have to incorporate some jello. Ideas?

While I love parties, something tells me that is not really what our families have in mind for the holiday. I'm thinking Wii Just Dance followed by lots of chocolate eggs is just not going to do the trick.

I've been gathering some inspiration photos for decorations....

Pretty, aren't they?!

Be Mine

Husband, will you be my valentine? 

Let's meet at home after work and eat lots of foods obnoxiously cut out with hearts. 

Cabin Fever

We've been stuck inside so much lately this is what I've resorted to...

Homemade Valentine's Day cards. Like elementary school but less fun because you don't get to make your "mailbox" out of a shoe box and spend a day eating heart shaped cupcakes.

I do have one leftover cinnamon muffin from when I had a NINE person sleep-over at my apartment this past weekend. I guess that is sort of like a heart shaped cupcake only not shaped like a heart and not sweet. I'm really going to need spring to come sometime soon or I might go crazy!

Snowed In

I went home to visit my family while JJ was in Chicago for business and now I'm snowed in. We had 8" of snow yesterday and it's still coming down. I'm relaxing in sweatpants with coffee, HGTV and my parent's dogs. Perfect day!

I realized that I still hadn't shared what the Mr. gave me for our first Christmas as a married couple.

These I absolutely love and have been wearing everyday despite the snow.

He gave me a pair of Tory Burch flats a few years ago for my birthday and I litterly wore the soles out on them. 

And the verdict is still out on this one. JJ is LOVING playing with it.

Oh yes. 

What a Lovely Year I've had

We're all moved in thanks to the muscles of many of our friends and family members. Aside from one small breakdown last night when I realized that all of my clothes and shoes do not have a chance of all fitting in my closet, I am thrilled/relieved at how smoothly everything went. I'm not embarrassed to say that this breakdown included tears. Since "moved in" is NOT the same as "unpacked" I'm not quite ready to share pictures of the apartment in it's current state.

I'm overwhelmed by the thought of learning my way around a new {much larger} city and making friends and finding a job- but at least JJ and I are going through it all together.

It is hard to believe that today is the last day of 2010...and then wraps up one of the most eventful year of my life. What a LOVELY year I've had! 2010 was filled with my first full-time job, weddings of dear friends, wonderful trips, a move to a new city and my wedding to Mr. Bennett.

I hope all of you have a lovely New Year's Eve. I'll be wearing all black to a party tonight because I've always imagined that is what you do when you live in a big city.